The chief executive of Swiss Life has confirmed that the insurance group will cut jobs next year in a bid to save costs.

Bruno Pfister told the Handelszeitung economics weekly in an interview published on Wednesday that cost management was becoming ever more significant in today's economic environment.

"Although we have made great progress in the last few years, we have to further improve our efficiency to remain competitive," he said.

When asked if that meant that jobs would have to be cut next year, Pfistzer said "yes" but declined to give further details.

Swiss Life, the country's third-largest insurance company, announced last week that its third-quarter premium volumes had fallen 11 per cent to SFr3.08 billion ($2.55 billion).

The company also warned it would not meet its full-year net profit outlook and stopped its share buyback programme.

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